Apparatus for depositing aerated food products

ABSTRACT

A machine, utilizing static whipping discs, aerates a whippable food product. The aerated product is fed through a hose to a forcing bag. Venting apparatus is provided at the junction of the hose and bag to eliminate air voids. The method includes pumping the aerated product through a hose to a forcing bag, alternately compressing the bag to extrude the product and releasing the compression to interrupt the extrusion without interrupting the supply to the bag, and venting any air voids from the bag before the product reaches the tip of the bag.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1894 Schueter ..222/188 I United States Patent 13,659,519

MacManus May 2, 1972 54] APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING 1,635,190 7/1927Michallat 107/27 R AERATED FOOD PRODUCTS 2,967,700 1/1961 Lee ..26l/l402,956,522 10/1960 Young ..l07/3l I [72] Inventor: John MacManus,l43-l6-Twenty-second 235 202 11/1966 MacM-anus 07 54 H Road, Whneswne,11357 3,358,424 12/1967 Magorien ..55/l89 [221 Filed FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS [21] 193,217 1923 Great Britain ..107/27 [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data Primary Examiner-Henry SutherlandAttorney-McCanna, Morsbach, Pillote & Muir Feb. 13, 1969 Great Britain..7,981/69 Sept. 5, 1969 Great Britain ..44,031/69 57 ABSTRACT 52 0.5.CI ..99/4s0.1 1 18/13 A machine utilizing Static Whipping discswhiPPable 51 Int. Cl ..A2lb 5/00 A21 d 15 00 Pmducl- The filled Producis fed hmugh a 581 Field of Search ..107/27 B 2s 25 A 1 R 11) fmmgVeming aPPalratus is Pmvided 107/52 14 31 27 R 54 1 the hose and bag toeliminate air voids. The method includes 1 222/188 2 DIG pumping theaerated product through a hose to a forcing bag, alternately compressingthe bag to extrude the product and [56] References Cited releasing thecompression to interrupt the extrusion without interrupting the supplyto the bag, and venting any air voids from the bag before the productreaches the tip of the bag.

12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented May 2, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M 32mm /&1

Attorneys y mwna, M I

Patented May 2, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor fa mac MM mMJ l A ltorneyS APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING AERATED FOOD PRODUCTS This invention relatesto the art of handling relatively thick flowable material butparticularly for products containing a high ratio of air to liquid andsolids content. More particularly, this invention is herein describedwith reference to an improved method and apparatus for depositing astiff fluent aerated food product on or into a succession of units ofpastry, cakes, or other confectionery to decorate or fill them.

The aerated or whipped food product may be whipped cream, or imitationwhipped cream and toppings formed from animal or vegetable fat creams.The term depositing of such a food product is meant to include placing adecorative topping on comestibles, such as pies, cakes, and the like; orinjecting a filling into comestibles such as choux buns, eclairs, andthe like.

One method of depositing a stiff fluent aerated food product, such aswhipped cream, on or into a succession of units of pastry, cakes, orother confectionery to decorate or fill them is described in my U. S.Pat. No. 3,285,202, issued Nov. 15, 1966; which corresponds to CanadianPat. No. 784,483, issued May 7, 1968. This method consists of pumping acontinuing flow, that is a continuous or continual flow, of the productthrough a flexible hose to a collapsible forcing bag having an opendischarge tip. The tip is moved over a unit to deposit the material onor into it in a prescribed pattern by alternately compressing the bag tocause it to collapse partially and reduce the capacity of the bag, sothat the product is extruded from the tip, and then at least partiallyreleasing the compression on the bag to interrupt the flow of materialfrom the tip without interrupting the supply of material to the bagwhile moving the tip to the next unit, and so on.

ln whipping animal or vegetable fat cream, air or gas is intermixed withthe material to create an aerated food product having a high overrun.The amount of overrun depends, among other things, on the amount of gasintermixed. Ideally, the amount of gas introduced for intermixing wouldbe the exact amount for the maximum overrun and the gas would be evenlydisbursed throughout the whipped product. As in most things, the idealis difficult to achieve. Since a deficiency of gas can cause animproperly whipped product, in which the product may run or weep, it issafer to have an excess of gas. The intermixing then produces a whippedproduct having generally uniform stable gas bubbles and larger unstablegas pockets, or voids. Upon dispensing, the voids can cause spurting ofthe aerated product with accompanying destruction of designs and priordecorations. In the industry, a pastry or the like with such a ruineddesign is called a cripple and has little sales value.

However homogeneous the high overrun aerated product when pumped intothe hose, there is inevitably a slight separation of the air resultingfrom compression of and within the product itself as the product passesthrough the hose enroute toward the bag. When the operation is acontinuous one there is practically no hazard, but serious problems canarise when intermittent or interrupted flow of product occurs for anyreason whatsoever; e.g. on interruption of the pumping machine for aslittle as a minute, large voids of air occur in irregular zonesthroughout the entire length of the hose. Also it must be noted that,the longer the machine stops, the more the voids and the greater istheir resulting size. This trapped air will cause such great splutteringof the product from the discharge tip of the bag when the air reachesthe tip that the ratio of unsaleable to saleable goods is so great thatthe system is unacceptable.

To meet and solve this problem, in accordance with the present inventionair voids separated from the product pumped along the hose are ventedfrom the product before the product reaches the tip of the bag.

This may be achieved by apparatus comprising a flexible hose, one end ofwhich is arranged to be connected to a source of product under pressureand the other end of which is connected to a collapsible forcing bag orpastry bag having an unobstructed discharge opening at its tip, whereinthe wall of the bag, or of the hose, or of a coupling pieceinterconnecting the hose and bag is provided with a minute venting holeor holes leading outwards into an expansion space at atmosphericpressure.

With this arrangement any air which separates from the product and isentrapped between the different zones of the separated product as itpasses along the hose and/or bag is able to escape immediately throughthe or each minute hole, which preferably has an effective length nomore than twenty thousandths of an inch, and also, importantly to expandimmediately to atmospheric pressure. The sudden expansion to atmosphericpressure prevents any product which passes through the hole fromblocking the hole and preventing subsequent further venting.

Because of the high pressure at which the whole system must operate,however small the hole or holes consistent with their practicability, asmall quantity of the product will inevitably escape and splatter withthe air through the hole or holes. Preferably therefore the venting holeor holes lead into an expansion chamber which is at atmospheric pressureand which is arranged to contain any product escaping with the air.

The configuration and position of the chamber is arranged to prevent theescaped product from becoming a messy, unsanitary nuisance and thechamber preferably extends from the hole or holes in the upstreamdirection along the hose. Thus the expansion chamber may be an annularspace formed between the inner and outer walls of a double walled hose.Preferably however the expansion chamber is provided by a flexibletubular skin one end of which is connected to the venting hole or holesand the other end of which is open to atmosphere. The use of the verythin flexible tube has the advantage that, during a long cycle ofoperation, the small amount of surplus product escaping into the tubecan be easily removed from the tube for retrieval and reuse, ordisposal, simply by squeezing the tube between the two fingers anddrawing the fingers along the pliable tube to its free open end. In thisway regular stoppages because of air locks and the resulting wastage isprevented and valuable time is saved and labor costs lessened.

' Although the or each minute venting hole may be formed in the wall ofthe bag; it is preferably provided at or adjacent to the point where thedownstream end of the hose leads into the bag. In this position it doesnot interfere with manipulation of the bag for controlled extrusion ofthe product and by the time the product has reached this point most ofthe air which it is so necessary to separate from the product will havedone so and thus the spoiled, i.e. unsaleable, goods problem iseliminated.

The minute venting hole or holes, preferably leading into the expansionchamber, can be completely unobstructed but it or they may be associatedwith a valve mechanism such that the hole is always open but adjustableor only open when an air void reaches a position for venting. When thehose and bag are interconnected by means of a coupling piece having abody formed with a passage through which the product flows from the hoseto the bag, the coupling piece forms a suitable mounting for the valvemechanism. Preferably then the venting hole or holes open from thepassage in the coupling piece into a valve chamber formed in the body,the chamber containing the valve mechanism which is set by manipulationof an externally adjustable finger piece. The chamber must have anappreciable cross section so that the effective length of the ventinghole or holes is small enough to prevent clogging by the product and toprovide the important expansion of the escaping air as it passes throughthe hole or holes.

In order to ensure that no air voids passing through the coupling pieceby-pass the venting hole or holes, the passage through the body ispreferably elongated in cross section and the venting hole or holes openinto a wider side of the passage. The product then passes the ventinghole or holes as a thin film.

Some examples of apparatus constructed in accordance with the presentinvention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, with parts in section, of oneapparatus;

FIG. 2 is a detailed section of part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed section of a coupling at hose and bag of anotherapparatus;

FIG. 4 is a section illustrating the cross section of the line lVlV inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to part of FIG. 3 but of another apparatus;and,

FIG. 6 is a detailed section of part of the hose and coupling piece ofanother apparatus.

FIG. 1 shows a flexible hose 7 which is moulded integrally with athin-walled, flexible and collapsible forcing bag or pastry bag 8 fromtranslucent synthetic plastics material of suitable hygeniccharacteristics. The bag 8 is provided at its discharge tip with a starshaped outlet nozzle 9 which has an unobstructed discharge opening. Thehose 7 is coupled at its upstream end to a product whipping and pumpingmachine 10 by means ofa coupling 11.

The machine 10 has a pump 12, driven by a motor 13, the pump drawing inliquid product through an inlet 14 either from a container 15 in arefrigerated compartment 16 or from a remote bulk container (not shown)through a flexible pipe. Simultaneously with the sucking in of theliquid product, the pump sucks in air through an adjustable valvecontrolled by a rotatable plug 17 and the mixture of liquid product andair is pumped through a homogenizer 18 containing a series of staticdiscs which provide a labyrinth of channels. The mixture is whipped intoan emulsion product by the homogenizer 18 and passes through a solenoidoperated shut off valve 19 to the machine outlet and hence through thecoupling 11 to the hose 7 Analogously to the method described in myabove-mentioned patent, the aerated product is continuously orcontinually pumped by the machine 10 through the hose 7 into the bag 8so that the bag 8 remains at least partially full of product. Theproduct is extruded from nozzle 9 by periodically compressing the bag 8to reduce its capacity and subsequently releasing thepressure thusallowingthe bag to fill up without any product being extruded from thenozzle 9, while the nozzle is moved from confection to confection. Inthis way the pump 12 does not have to be operated in synchronism withthe depositing of product from the nozzle 9. The bag 8 may be compressedmanually as described in my above-mentioned patent or automatically, asdesired.

The invention is concerned with the problem of any air voids separatingfrom the product being pumped along the hose 7 due for example to ashort stoppage. These air voids are automatically vented from theproduct through a minute hole 20 in the wall of the hose 7 adjacent tothe bag 8. The hole'20 communicates with the interior of a thin flexiblesausage skin like expansion chamber 21 which is held in positionextending upstream alongside the hose 7 by means of a strap 22 and theother end 23 of which is open to atmosphere. The first end of thechamber 21 is secured to the hose 7 around the hole 20 by means of apressure sensitive adhesive-coated annular washer 24 which overlaps anannular flange 25 at the end of the chamber 21 and clamps the flangeagainst the wall of the hose 7.

The wall of the hose 7 may be between 4 and 16 thousandths of an inchthick, depending upon the material from which it is made, and its methodof manufacture, and accordingly the effective length of the hole 20 iswithin the same range. Any air voids passing down the hose 7 are ventedto the atmospheric pressure within the chamber 21 through the hole 20and any worms of product inevitably, escaping through the hole 20 withthe air are also immediately expanded to atmospheric pressure and do nottend to clog the hole 20. These worms are contained within the chamber21 and when necessary the chamber is released from the strap 22 and theexpanded worms of product are extruded from the open end 23 by squeezingthe chamber 21 adjacent to its lower end between two fingers and drawingthe fingers along the chamber.

Although the preferred position for the hole 20 and chamber 21 are shownin full lines in FIG. 1, so that there is no obstruction to manualmanipulation to the bag 8, the dotted positions 21A and 21B indicatepossible alternative positions.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a hose 7A is coupled to a bag 8A bymeans of a moulded synthetic plastic coupling piece 25 having a productflow passage 26 extending from end to end through it. The downstream endof the hose 7A is clamped around a smaller diameter portion of thecoupling piece 25 by means of a jubilee clip or other band 27 and theupstream neck of the bag 8A is clamped around the other larger diameterend of the coupling piece 25 by means of a band 28. A valve body 29 issealed in a bore in the side wall of the coupling piece 25 and its,inner end opens into the passageway 26 through a small venting hole 30.The hole 30 is formed in the center of a conical seating whichcooperates with a needle closure member 31 which can be screwed towardsor away from the seating to adjust the valve setting by means of anexternally accessible fingerpiece 32. In use the fingerpiece 32 isadjusted to preset the valve and a flexible expansion chamber 21A,similar to the chamber 21 but secured in position by means ofa band 33which clamps the end of the chamber 21A around an extension of the valvebody 29, may be provided. The part of the passage 26 extending throughthe larger diameter portion of the coupling piece 25 has an elongatecross section as shown in FIG. 4 so that the product passes the hole 30as a thin film, making it difficult for any of the air voids to bypassthe hole 30. Any air voids coming into alignment with the hole 30 arevented through the hole 30 and, together with any worms of productaccompanying the air, are expanded within the body 29 and chamber 21A toatmospheric pressure. The hole 30 and the clearance between the seatingand the closure member 31 are such that the effective length of theventing hole is less than 20 thousandth of an inch so that the air andworms of product are immediately expanded to atmospheric pressure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the FIG. 3 and 4 apparatus in whichthe valve body 29A contains a spider 34 which supports a spring-loadedplunger 35 having a mushroom valve head 36 at its inner end. In thisexample the operator manually opens the valve to allow an air voidpassing down the passage 26 to be expanded into the body 29A and chamber21A by pressing a plunger head 37 so that the head 36 moves further intothe passageway 26 and opens the valve. The wall of the chamber 21A issufficiently flexible to enable the head 37 to be manipulated throughthe wall of the chamber 2 1A.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the hose 7B is provided oversubstantially its full length with an outer wall 38 so that the annularspace 39 forming an expansion chamber is provided between the hose 7Bproper, forming an inner wall, and the outer wall 38. The ends of theouter wall 38 may be heat welded to the inner wall 78. Adjacent to thedownstream end of of the hose, the inner wall 78 is provided with atleast one small venting hole 40 through which air voids passing down thehose are automatically vented together with any worms of extrudedproduct into the annular space 39 which is open to atmosphere through atleast one hole 41 adjacent to the upstream end of the outer wall 38.

I claim the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege isclaimed are defined as follows:

1. Apparatus for depositing an aerated food product on or into asuccession of units of pastry, cakes, or other confectionery, comprisinga collapsible forcing bag having a wall with an unobstructed dischargeopening at one end, a flexible hose having a wall operatively connectedto the forcing bag and communicating with the interior of the forcingbag, a coupling piece for interconnecting the hose and forcing bag, thecoupling piece having a body formed with a passage through which theproduct flows from the hose to the forcing bag, a chamber formed in thebody of the coupling piece, a pump operatively connected to the hose forpumping the product through the hose to the forcing bag, means in thecoupling piece defining a minute venting hole opening from the passageinto the chamber for venting any air voids to atmosphere before the airvoids reach said discharge opening, a valve mechanism in the chamber forcontrolling the flow of air through the venting hole, and the valvemechanism including an externally adjustable finger piece which ismanipulative for controlling the flow of air through the venting hole.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve mechanism isspring-loaded to a position in which the venting hole is closed, andincluding a plunger having an outer extremity which forms the externallyadjustable finger piece and which is selectively movable against thespring by pressing the plunger.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the passage through the bodyis elongate in cross-section, and the venting hole opens into a widerside of the passage.

4. in a whipping apparatus for whipping food products such as animal orvegetable fat creams and including storage means for holding a whippablefood material, means for introducing a gas into the material, whippingmeans for intermixing the material and gas to produce a whipped producthaving generally uniform stable gas bubbles and larger unstable gaspockets therein, and means for providing a flow of the whipped productthrough a discharge opening, the improvement comprising: elongate wallmeans defining a flow passage having an inlet end communicating with thedischarge opening for receiving the flow of whipped product, and anoutlet end for dispensing the whipped product; the wall means having aventing hole therein located closer to the outlet end than the inlet endfor venting the unstable gas pockets to atmosphere before the whippedproduct reaches the outlet end; a valve mechanism associated with theventing hole for selectively opening and closing the same to control theflow of the gas therethrough, the valve mechanism including a plungerhaving an outer extremity which forms an externally adjustable fingerpiece, the valve mechanism including spring means for urging the plungerto a closed position, and the plunger being movable against the springby pressing the finger piece to open the valve and vent the unstable gaspockets to atmosphere; a flexible tubular skin defining an expansionchamber which is at atmospheric pressure and arranged to contain anyproduct escaping with the air; and the flexible tubular skin having oneend open to atmosphere and another end connected to the wall adjacentthe venting hole so that the expansion chamber communicates with theventing hole.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the venting hole has aneffective length of no more than twenty thousandths of an inch.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the elongate wall meansincludes a hose, and the expansion chamber extends from the venting holein the upstream direction along the hose.

7. Apparatus for whipping food products such as animal or vegetable fatcreams and including storage means for holding a whippable foodmaterial, means for introducing a gas into the material, whipping meansfor intermixing the material and gas to produce a whipped product havinggenerally uniform stable gas bubbles and larger unstable gas pocketstherein, and means for providing a flow of the whipped product through adischarge opening, the improvement comprising: an elongate wall defininga flow passage having an inlet end communicating with the dischargeopening for receiving the flow of whipped product, and an outlet end fordispensing the whipped product; the wall having a venting hole formed bya puncture therein; the venting hole being located closer to the outletend than the inlet end for venting the unstable gas pockets toatmosphere before the whipped product reaches the outlet end; a valvemechanism associated with the venting hole for selectively opening andclosing the same to control the flow of the gas therethrough, the valvemechanism including a plunger having an outer extremity which forms anexternally adjustable finger piece, the valve mechanism including sgrinmeans for urging the plunger to a closed position, and t e p unger beingmovable against the spring by pressing the finger piece to open thevalve and vent the unstable gas pockets to atmosphere; means defining anexpansion chamber communicating with the venting hole and which is atatmospheric pressure and arranged to contain any product escaping withthe air, the expansion chamber having a flange at the end adjacent thewall; and a washer which is bonded to the wall and traps the flange atthe end of the expansion chamber against the wall to seal the expansionchamber to the wall.

8. Apparatus for depositing an aerated food product on or into asuccession of units of pastry, cakes, or other confectionery, comprisinga collapsible forcing bag having a wall with an unobstructed dischargeopening at one end, a flexible double-walled hose having an inner wallconnected to the forcing bag and communicating with the interior of theforcing bag, a pump operatively connected to the hose for pumping theproduct through the hose to the forcing bag, means in one of said wallsdefining a minute venting hole for venting any air voids to atmospherebefore the air voids reach said discharge opening, an expansion chamberformed by the annular space between the inner and outer walls of thehose and communicating with the venting hole, and the expansion chamberbeing at atmospheric pressure and arranged to contain any productescaping with the air.

9. Apparatus for depositing an aerated food product on or into asuccession of units of pastry, cakes, or other confectionery, comprisinga collapsible forcing bag having a wall with an unobstructed dischargeopening at one end, a flexible hose having a wall connected to theforcing bag and communicating with the interior of the forcing bag, apump operatively connected to the hose for pumping the product throughthe hose to the forcing bag, means in one of said walls defining aminute venting hole for venting any air voids to atmosphere before theair voids reach said discharge opening, a flexible tubular skin definingan expansion chamber communicating with the venting hole and arranged tocontain any product escaping with the vented air, the tubular skinhaving one end connected to the wall adjacent the venting hole andanother end open to atmosphere, and the tubular skin extending from theventing hole in the upstream direction.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the venting hole is formed bya puncture in one of the walls, and the tubular skin has a flange at itssaid one end; and including a washer which is bonded to the wall andtraps the flange at the end of the tubular skin against the wall to sealit to the wall.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the venting hole has aneffective length of no more than twenty thousandths of an inch.

12. Apparatus according to claim 9 including a valve mechanism at theventing hole for controlling the flow of air escaping therethrough

1. Apparatus for depositing an aerated food product on or into asuccession of units of pastry, cakes, or other confectionery, comprisinga collapsible forcing bag having a wall with an unobstructed dischargeopening at one end, a flexible hose having a wall operatively connectedto the forcing bag and communicating with the interior of the forcingbag, a coupling piece for interconnecting the hose and forcing bag, thecoupling piece having a body formed with a passage through which theproduct flows from the hose to the forcing bag, a chamber formed in thebody of the coupling piece, a pump operatively connected to the hose forpumping the product through the hose to the forcing bag, means in thecoupling piece defining a minute venting hole opening from the passageinto the chamber for venting any air voids to atmosphere before the airvoids reach said discharge opening, a valve mechanism in the chamber forcontrolling the flow of air through the venting hole, and the valvemechanism including an externally adjustable finger piece which ismanipulative for controlling the flow of air through the venting hole.2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valve mechanism isspring-loaded to a position in which the venting hole is closed, andincluding a plunger having an outer extremity which forms the externallyadjustable finger piece and which is selectively movable against thespring by pressing the plunger.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 inwhich the passage through the body is elongate in cross-section, and theventing hole opens into a wider side of the passage.
 4. In a whippingapparatus for whipping food products such as animal or vegetable fatcreams and including storage means for holding a whippable foodmaterial, means for introducing a gas into the material, whipping meansfor intermixing the material and gas to produce a whipped product havinggenerally uniform stable gas bubbles and larger unstable gas pocketstherein, and means for providing a flow of the whipped product through adischarge opening, the improvement comprising: elongate wall meansdefining a flow passage having an inlet end communicating with thedischarge opening for receiving the flow of whipped product, and anoutlet end for dispensing the whipped product; the wall means having aventing hole therein located closer to the outlet end than the inlet endfor venting the unstable gas pockets to atmosphere before the whippedproduct reaches the outlet end; a valve mechanism associated with theventing hole for selectively opening and closing the same to control theflow of the gas therethrough, the valve mechanism inCluding a plungerhaving an outer extremity which forms an externally adjustable fingerpiece, the valve mechanism including spring means for urging the plungerto a closed position, and the plunger being movable against the springby pressing the finger piece to open the valve and vent the unstable gaspockets to atmosphere; a flexible tubular skin defining an expansionchamber which is at atmospheric pressure and arranged to contain anyproduct escaping with the air; and the flexible tubular skin having oneend open to atmosphere and another end connected to the wall adjacentthe venting hole so that the expansion chamber communicates with theventing hole.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ventinghole has an effective length of no more than twenty thousandths of aninch.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the elongate wall meansincludes a hose, and the expansion chamber extends from the venting holein the upstream direction along the hose.
 7. Apparatus for whipping foodproducts such as animal or vegetable fat creams and including storagemeans for holding a whippable food material, means for introducing a gasinto the material, whipping means for intermixing the material and gasto produce a whipped product having generally uniform stable gas bubblesand larger unstable gas pockets therein, and means for providing a flowof the whipped product through a discharge opening, the improvementcomprising: an elongate wall defining a flow passage having an inlet endcommunicating with the discharge opening for receiving the flow ofwhipped product, and an outlet end for dispensing the whipped product;the wall having a venting hole formed by a puncture therein; the ventinghole being located closer to the outlet end than the inlet end forventing the unstable gas pockets to atmosphere before the whippedproduct reaches the outlet end; a valve mechanism associated with theventing hole for selectively opening and closing the same to control theflow of the gas therethrough, the valve mechanism including a plungerhaving an outer extremity which forms an externally adjustable fingerpiece, the valve mechanism including spring means for urging the plungerto a closed position, and the plunger being movable against the springby pressing the finger piece to open the valve and vent the unstable gaspockets to atmosphere; means defining an expansion chamber communicatingwith the venting hole and which is at atmospheric pressure and arrangedto contain any product escaping with the air, the expansion chamberhaving a flange at the end adjacent the wall; and a washer which isbonded to the wall and traps the flange at the end of the expansionchamber against the wall to seal the expansion chamber to the wall. 8.Apparatus for depositing an aerated food product on or into a successionof units of pastry, cakes, or other confectionery, comprising acollapsible forcing bag having a wall with an unobstructed dischargeopening at one end, a flexible double-walled hose having an inner wallconnected to the forcing bag and communicating with the interior of theforcing bag, a pump operatively connected to the hose for pumping theproduct through the hose to the forcing bag, means in one of said wallsdefining a minute venting hole for venting any air voids to atmospherebefore the air voids reach said discharge opening, an expansion chamberformed by the annular space between the inner and outer walls of thehose and communicating with the venting hole, and the expansion chamberbeing at atmospheric pressure and arranged to contain any productescaping with the air.
 9. Apparatus for depositing an aerated foodproduct on or into a succession of units of pastry, cakes, or otherconfectionery, comprising a collapsible forcing bag having a wall withan unobstructed discharge opening at one end, a flexible hose having awall connected to the forcing bag and communicating with the interior ofthe forcing bag, a pump operatively connected to the hose for pumpingthe Product through the hose to the forcing bag, means in one of saidwalls defining a minute venting hole for venting any air voids toatmosphere before the air voids reach said discharge opening, a flexibletubular skin defining an expansion chamber communicating with theventing hole and arranged to contain any product escaping with thevented air, the tubular skin having one end connected to the walladjacent the venting hole and another end open to atmosphere, and thetubular skin extending from the venting hole in the upstream direction.10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the venting hole is formed bya puncture in one of the walls, and the tubular skin has a flange at itssaid one end; and including a washer which is bonded to the wall andtraps the flange at the end of the tubular skin against the wall to sealit to the wall.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the ventinghole has an effective length of no more than twenty thousandths of aninch.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 9 including a valve mechanism atthe venting hole for controlling the flow of air escaping therethrough